Water treatment cartridges are known in the art. Examples of some cartridges are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,826,854, 6,120,685, and 6,337,015. These cartridges have an inlet, an outlet, and a filter material in fluid communication with the inlet and the outlet. Some of these cartridges open a valve in the inlet and/or the outlet of a head assembly fitting to which the cartridge attaches. Examples of such arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,256,285, 5,607,582, and 5,753,111. These valves are typically actuated in a direction linear with the engagement of the filter cartridge, requiring the appliance casing receiving the cartridge to be at least as long as the valve. Some known cartridges can be used to actuate valves other than an inlet and/or an outlet valve. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,399,776 and 3,852,196 disclose a filter and valve arrangement whereby connecting or disconnecting the filter cartridge from the inlet/outlet valves of the system's body also automatically opens or closes a bypass valve.
While these cartridges may have been useful for their intended purpose, there is a desire to provide a more compact treatment cartridge arrangement that can actuate inlet and outlet valves when inserted into a confined space. Additionally, there is a desire to maximize the length of treatment cartridges, thus increasing treatment material, thus increasing cartridge performance in confined spaces. Further, there is a desire to provide a treatment cartridge that utilizes a mechanical advantage in actuating an inlet and/or an outlet valve. Still further, there is a desire to provide a treatment cartridge that can accomplish any of the foregoing and is also capable of actuating a bypass valve (or other feature) located on the head assembly into which the cartridge is inserted.